I make it a point to always visit the annual Boat/Yacht Show. I didn't go this year. I cruised to Tioman, Aur and Pulau Yu instead. The seas were calm after a 3 & a half month North East Monsoon that usually starts in late November. Waves maxed at 0.3m (1 foot) making a very comfortable ride onboard a Meridian 341 (36 footer) Flybridge Cabin Cruiser. Crusing on an average 20 knots, we made the journey to Tioman in about 6hrs not including stops along he way. Although the fuel capacity of 960 Litres is sufficient to make the 125 nm journey from RSYC (Republic of Singapore Yacht Club) to Tioman Marina at Tekek, we decided to stop at the SAF Yacht Club at Changi to top up about 160 Litres of diesel fuel before moving on again through the Lima Channel passage.
We stayed at Tioman on Friday night after clearing Customs & Immigration. I would always advice boaters to use a clearing Agent. I usually use the services of Pak Darus (Hp: +60139333033) The total cost of clearing 5 Passports and 1 night berthing at Tioman Marina was RM410. We were happy to pay as it saved us the hassle of wasting time and headaches of having to anchor outside Tekek Bay had Pak Darus not been able to get us a berth at the packed Marina. I was told the original Marina was supposed to be four times larger but the developers had to scale it down to its present size after receiving overwhelming protests from Green Movements. That's a real shame, because the present Marina is way too small to accommodate visiting boats. Most of the berths are already taken up by small dive and fishing charter boats, large Mersing Ferries and Customs and police boats. Even the local fishing vessels make it a routine to dock there probably to pick up supplies or rest between trips.
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| Albert Khoo and enthusiastic boater attended my Coaster Skipper Course 20 yrs ago joined us to Tioma |
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| Chui Lee, a new boater owns the Meridian 341. She captained the Yacht throughout the cruise |
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| Refuelling from a friendly Yacht on the way back to Singapore |
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| Pulau Pemanggil. Still desolate and Prestine |
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| Richard, great company to have onboard these extended trips. Many hands make light work |
To check the weather before going there, I use use the information publish at windguru.cz
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=6344 and select under Desaru - Malaysia. The aps is easy to use and so far, pretty accurate.
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| The Meridian 341 was a comfortable ride to Tioman in these seas at 20 knots.. It was smooth sailing all the way with the generators and air-conditioning running 3 days non stop. Anchoring her was a breeze. |
Perhaps the next trip we will explore the waters off Riau or make a slow passage to Phuket at an average speed of 8 knots. The options with a reliable Cabin Cruiser are plenty.
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